RO ROBERTSON
Ro Robertson (they/them) (b. 1984, Sunderland, UK) is based at Porthmeor Studios in St Ives, West Cornwall. Their practice spans sculpture, drawing, painting and video, mediums through which they explore the boundaries of the human body and its environment.
Finding inspiration in the ever-shifting flux of the tidal zone, Robertson centres their practice around the power of fluidity. Robertson often works site-specifically, conjuring multi-sensory experiences as a response to locations and landscapes. This approach informs their works on paper, which begin with the artist recalling sensations and memories associated with particular places, and working intuitively to create an ecosystem of layered pools, washes and lines of pigment. Rather than describe a landscape, Robertson’s visceral palette evokes an overall sense of a place, with colours that might suggest, for instance, the sensation of the sun drying salt water on skin.
Sculpture, both small- and large-scale, is crucial to their practice. Robertson often starts a sheet-metal sculpture with a line drawing, which they use to create Constructivist-like forms that balance a sense of freedom with mathematical precision. Welding, a physical and dangerous process, creates a connection between their family’s shipbuilding heritage and modern and contemporary sculptural practices. Rather than the unified figure associated with traditional sculptural form, Robertson creates multi-part sculptures with an abundance of negative space, breaking down binaries by expressing ideas around the extended or collective body.
Solo exhibitions include Howl, Pallant House Gallery 'Staircase Commission', Chichester, UK (2026, forthcoming); The Ribs Begin to Rise, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland, UK (2025); Holder Up, Maximillian William, London, UK (2025); Modern Thresholds: Ro Robertson, part of Modern Conversations, Tate St Ives, St Ives, UK (2023); Torsos, Maximillian William, London, UK (2022); and Stone (Butch), The Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield, UK (2019).
Group exhibitions include Listening to the earth, The Drawing Room, London, UK (2026); Creating Space: The Constructivist Marlow Moss, Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin, Germany (2026); Forbidden Territories: 100 Years of Surreal Landscapes, Museum Arnhem, Utrechtseweg, Netherlands (2025); Sea State, a two-person exhibition with Maggi Hambling, Wolterton Hall, Norfolk, UK (2025); and TRICKSTER FIGURES: sculpture and the body, curated by Jes Fernie, MK Gallery, Milton Keynes, UK (2023).
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SELECTED WORKS
Ro Robertson, The Swimmer, 2026 Steel, seawater, marine paint, oil paint and rocks, 100 x 120 x 360 cm, 39 3/8 x 47 1/4 x 141 3/4 in. Courtesy of the artist and Maximillian William, London. Photo: Johannes Kremmer
Ro Robertson, One Good Day, 2026 Gouache, watercolour pencil and graphite on board, framed: 150 x 80 cm, 59 x 31 1/2 in. Courtesy of the artist and Heong Gallery, Cambridge. Photo: Steve Tanner
Ro Robertson, Cross Waves, 2026, Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: SHARP
'Creating Space: The Constructivist Marlow Moss', 2026, installation view. Courtesy of the artist and Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin. Photo: Jens Ziehe
Ro Robertson, Freeform I (Lamorna), 2026 Steel, 55 x 64 x 36 cm, 21 5/8 x 25 1/4 x 14 1/8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin. Photo: Jens Ziehe
Ro Robertson, The Swimmer, 2026, Steel, seawater, marine paint, oil paint and rocks, 100 x 120 x 360 cm, 39 3/8 x 47 1/4 x 141 3/4 in. Courtesy of the artist and Maximillian William, London. Photo: Johannes Kremmer
'Modern Thresholds: Ro Robertson', 2024, installation view. Courtesy of the artist and Tate St Ives, St Ives. Photo: Deniz Guzel
Ro Robertson, Porth II, 2023, Gouache paint, watercolour pencil, graphite, sand and binder on paper, 200 x 140 cm, 78 3/4 x 55 1/8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tate St Ives, St Ives. Photo: Deniz Guzel
'Forbidden Territories: 100 Years of Surreal Landscapes', 2025, installation view. Courtesy the artist and The Hepworth Wakefield, Yorkshire. Photo: Rob Battersby
Ro Robertson, Porth I, 2023, Gouache paint, watercolour pencil, graphite, sand and binder on paper, 200 x 140 cm, 78 3/4 x 55 1/8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Tate St Ives, St Ives. Photo: Deniz Guzel
Ro Robertson, Drench, 2022, Painted Corten Steel, 320 x 400 x 400 cm, 126 x 157.5 x 157.5 in. Courtesy of the artist and Frieze Sculpture, London. Photo: Jack Hems
'An Axis of Abstraction: Art in Cornwall and Yorkshire', 2024–2025, installation view. Courtesy of the artist and Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds. Photo: Rob Battersby
'The Ribs Begin to Rise', 2025, installation view. Courtesy of the artist and The Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland. Photo: Rob Battersby
An Axis of Abstraction: Art in Cornwall and Yorkshire, 2024–2025, installation view. Courtesy of the artist and Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds. Photo: Rob Battersby
Ro Robertson, Torso II, 2021, Corten steel, jesmonite, paint and found objects (white vest, white sports socks, seaweed, mulch and rocks), 160 x 140 x 140 cm, 63 x 55 1/8 x 55 1/8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Maximillian William, London. Photo: Robert Glowacki
Ro Robertson, Torso I (my cotton, filled with cold steel), 2021, Corten steel, jesmonite, paint and found objects (white vest, blue shorts, sports socks, mulch, box of matches), 150 x 175 x 80 cm, 68.9 x 59.1 x 31.5 in. Courtesy of the artist and Maximillian William, London. Photo: Robert Glowacki
Ro Robertson, Island (anchored by mud), 2021, Gouache, charcoal, graphite, pastel, sandstone, red mud and binder on board, 155.9 x 66.2 x 6 cm, 41 3/4 x 33 7/8 x 2 3/8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Maximillian William, London. Photo: Jack Hems
Ro Robertson, Island (departing), 2021, Gouache, charcoal, graphite, pastel, sandstone, red mud and binder on board 155.9 x 66.2 x 6 cm, 41 3/4 x 33 7/8 x 2 3/8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Maximillian William, London. Photo: Jack Hems
'Vision and Reality: 100 Years of Contemporary Art in Wakefield', Between Two Bodies, 2020–21, Installation view. Courtesy of the artist and The Hepworth Wakefield. Photo: Nick Singleton
Ro Robertson, Pissing, 2018, Single-channel video, 1” (looped) with sound. Courtesy of the artist and Maximillian William, London.
GALLERY EXHIBITIONS
PRESS, EXTERNAL & INSTITUTIONAL SHOWS
Ro Robertson will be included in Ten Good Years at The Heong Gallery at Downing College, Cambridge…